


& we'll just be (you and me)

by SirenDreams



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:19:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27319870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirenDreams/pseuds/SirenDreams
Summary: Sometimes it takes your twin sister being in danger to make you realize that the outlaw life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes it's only getting stabbed and nearly bleeding to death while getting hit with the thought that it's your own life in danger this time around... and other times it's encounters with a pretty red-headed, gaelic curse throwing doctor that you justcan'tseem to stay away from. For Jesse Cunningham? Well, it's all damn three.
Relationships: Charles Smith (Red Dead Redemption)/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	& we'll just be (you and me)

**Author's Note:**

> Jesse and Dawn are original characters I put in the RDR2 universe; Ruthie belongs to the lovely @ma-sulevin. This fic is mainly centered around Jesse and Ruthie, but does include encounters with characters from the series as well as some focus on Dawn and her eventual relationship with Charles Smith.
> 
> This chapter: An introduction to the twins, who- in true fashion- find themselves in various degrees of trouble.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A introduction to Jesse & Dawn Cunningham, twin outlaws traveling across the American frontier. Troublemakers by nature, their actions during a dying era set the course to change their lives, and the lives of others, forever.

It’s a another lovely day in the little town of Valentine and as the townsfolk go about their morning, they do their best to ignore the faint yelling coming from the second floor of the hotel.

“Get up.” Dawn shouts, whacking the still groggy figure that is Jesse Cunningham— her twin brother— with the closest feather pillow. Unfortunately for Jesse, she nails him in the gut and any response he had planned was lost in a wheeze of her name and feeble attempt to wrestle the pillow from her grasp. “Get up, get up, get up!” She punctuates each word with another swing of the pillow, only relenting when Jesse manages to grab ahold of the corner and wrench it from her grasp.

“Do we have to do this in every town?” He grumbles, keeping a tight hold lest Dawn grab the object and start whacking him with it again.

“We’re not far enough away to relax and you know it.” She hisses, tugging on the pillow with more force and finally giving up when he rips it from her hands.

“What’s the rush?” He questions, loosening his grip with one hand raised to smother a yawn. “It’s a tiny little town in the middle of the Heartlands. I can’t imagine us being in any kind of danger here.”

“Do you live under a rock when I’m not looking, Jesse?”

“I don’t know, Dawn. Do I?”

Dawn fixes him with a steady glare, hands on her hips before she lunges for the pillow again— her brother’s snarky attitude only having served to worsen her current foul mood— and Jesse nearly rolls off the bed and onto the hardwood floor in an attempt to keep the feather-stuffed item away from her. He flashes a victorious smile when she lets out an aggravated sigh and relents, giving up for good and heading for the door. She pulls it open, offering a polite smile to the maid she finds blinking owlishly on the other side before turning back to face her brother.

“There’s word going around, people looking for some culprits about a failed heist back in Blackwater. We should get out of here before anyone comes looking and finds us instead. Get moving or I’m heading out of town without you.”

Jesse sighs heavily as she exits, lifting a hand to wave lazily at the maid still standing in the open doorway. She raises the pitcher in her hands without a word and places it on the chest to the left of the door; turning on her heel and quickly shutting the door behind her, seeming more flustered than anything else. He lays on the bed a moment longer, contemplating getting up or honestly trying to get just a little bit more sleep. In the end, the idea of more rest— and on an actual bed at that— wins out and Jesse rolls over, taking the blanket with him as goes. 

Surely Dawn would wait at least a few minutes for him?

* * *

As it turns out, Dawn would not— in fact— wait a few minutes for her brother. Knowing Jesse’s general behavior, she’s more than well aware that a few minutes will quickly turn into a few hours. She reminds herself that she warned him and bids the hotel owner farewell, exiting out into the muddy streets that weave their way through Valentine. She makes her way a few buildings down to the two story saloon, the floorboards creaking beneath her well-worn boots as she ascends the stairs and enters. Heads turn upon her arrival and Dawn offers a bright, red lipped smile coupled with a nod as she crosses to the counter.

“Good mornin’, what can I get’cha?”

“Mornin’, and nothing for me thank you. I’m just here to pay off a tab. Should be under Cunningham.”

“Give me just a moment to grab the record.”

She nods, watching as the barkeep disappears behind the counter, already feeling the sting of how much money she’ll be parting with. Jesse may not drink a terribly large amount, but when he does he’s not one to shy away from the pricey liquor.

“Ah, here it is. It’s looks like your tab is at...”

Dawn closes her eyes for a moment upon hearing the owner rattle off the total, reminding herself that as satisfying as it was to whack her brother several times with a pillow... Going back up the street to do it again wouldn’t make the tab any less. She exhales a heavy sigh and pulls the money from her satchel, handing it over with a weary smile.

“Think I could get a drink for the road after all? Just something simple.”

“Coming right up, ma’am.”

The bartender quickly fetches her drink, sliding a glass across the counter which Dawn accepts gratefully. She lifts it in a toast as the bartender gives a nod before scurrying away to tend to other things and the glass is barely to her lips before she feels a solid— and entirely unwanted— smack against her ass, which in turn sends the contents of her shot spilling down her shirt.

“Now, ain’t you a pretty thing.” As if the stranger hadn’t done enough already, he adds insult to injury. “How much for a roll in the hay?”

She can see two individuals further down the bar look affronted on her behalf, and one of them nearly starts around the corner of the counter before realizing she likely has the situation in hand. 

“Not interested.” She huffs, with a sharp backwards kick to the unwanted stranger’s foot in an attempt to get him to just shove off already. Unfortunately for Dawn, the individual seems unbothered and merely renews his interest— this time grabbing her by the waist.

“Hey!” She shouts, turning around to fix the man who grabbed her with a burning glare. “Hands off!” She yells, giving him a sharp elbow to the gut for his trouble and removing his hands from her body in the process.

The stranger stumbles into a nearby chair causing the two men, and the women accompanying them, on the opposite end of the bar to turn their heads— the longer haired individual watching her with a glimmer of interest. Silence falls, snapped like a taut string when another gentleman— and Dawn uses that term in the loosest of senses— slurs drunkenly from one of the tables.

“Looks like the girlie’s startin’ a bar fight!”

“That ain’t no bar fight,” another man slurs, hat pulled low as he shoves his chair back with a loud screech. “This is a bar fight!” He slams into a man who’d been passing by who, in turn, slams into another; the two of them toppling like dominos with the sounds of shattered glass and splintering chairs following in their wake.

Dawn watches with a horrified stare, quickly turning to the bartender with an apologetic smile. Fortunately for her, he seems more concerned with the fight that’s broken out rather than who may or may not have been responsible for it being started in the first place.

“C’mon now, let’s be reasonable about this.” A voice drawls from behind her, and Dawn turns to find a new individual has entered the fray. He’s tall and somewhat tanned, no doubt from many hours in the sun, with strikingly blue eyes and a pleasant sounding voice. He offers a nod in her direction, deftly moving between her and the men seemingly hell-bent on destroying everything in their path. “Bill, knock it off. We don’t—“ 

Dawn pales as another voice booms out across the bar and the bartender abandons his attempts of breaking up the fight, instead frantically pleading with the newcomer to let things go. The plea appears to fall on deaf ears as the man looms on the stairs and jeers at the three men who stand before him. Two of them appear to be the men who’d been around the corner of the bar earlier and Dawn quickly backtracks to where they’d been as soon as the first punch is thrown. As she feared, all hell breaks loose: a chair flies past her head, another splinters into nothing, and then the gentleman who’d tried to help break up the fight goes crashing through the window and out into the muddied street.

Given that she was the kick-off of the fight, no matter how accidental, Dawn feels a tad guilty for her next action— that of exiting the saloon as quickly as possible. She slips past a man wearing a hat and poncho— one of the two from earlier?— with ease, then crashes into someone else on the saloon’s porch. She nearly falls down the steps, having collided with the stranger so forcefully, but a set of warm and careful hands stop her— pulling her close to help keep her upright before the stranger puts a bit of space between them.

“Are you all right?”

Dawn glances up, her hair slipping over her shoulder as her gaze meets the stranger’s the concern and warmth in his eyes matching his gentle tone in a way that makes her face flush pink. She steps back, releasing her grip on his shirt and offers a small smile with her heart pounding in her chest. 

As it turns out, the man who kept her from falling is the same one who’d nearly started around the bar to help her before the fight had broken out… and the very same one who’d seemed to take an interest in her actions earlier. He’s even more handsome up close, but Dawn only allows herself the smallest amount of time to admire— reminding herself that the quicker she gets moving, the better off she’ll be.

“I’m fine, thank you.” 

The man takes her hand as she steps away, seeming sheepish and just as surprised as she is— as if he’d done it without realizing it. She offers another tiny smile and disentangles her hand from his own, hurrying down the steps and towards the hotel. She risks one final glance as she climbs onto the saddle, finding the man watching her with a soft smile before he turns his attention to the fight that’s quickly winding down.

She could’ve asked his name, offered something more than a smile as a form of thanks for his help… but leaving without much more was for the best. She and Jesse were always on the move after all… even if her brother was dreadfully slow about it. 

“Let’s go, Gunther. Time to head to the next town.” She opts for the long way around, past the sheriff’s office and towards the station before she rides out of Valentine knowing Jesse will catch up eventually.

* * *

It’s nearly noon by the time Jesse finally rolls out of bed, both literally and figuratively, washing up and dressing before heading down the stairs. Sure, he’s certain he took much more time than Dawn would’ve liked to get moving… but she’s more than used to his antics by now. He bids the hotel owner farewell and steps out with a smile… one that falls almost immediately upon seeing Dawn’s horse missing and his own blinking at him with as much judgement as the animal can muster.

“Aw, Mille. Don’t be like that.” He steps off the hotel porch and down beside the hitching post, digging out a sugar cube for Millie and offering it to the horse who takes it with a snort. “See, we’ll find Dawn and ol’ Gunther in no time.”

Millie flicks her tail as if to say she disagrees and Jesse gives her a gentle pat on the side before he makes his way to the saloon. Dawn wouldn’t be pleased if they left town with an outstanding debt and he knows it wouldn’t be a wise choice either. 

He frowns at the crunch of glass beneath his boots as he crests the steps— finding more of it scattered across the walkway. “Afternoon,” he greets, raising a hand to the bartender as he makes his way over. “Seem the window had a bit of a mishap.”

“A brawl broke out.” The barkeep answers tersely, casting a morose glance towards the broken window and then a another stern one at Jesse. “Paying customer or not, I don’t want anymore trouble today.”

“No, no trouble. Just here to settle a tab.” He leans against the bar counter, raising an eyebrow as three men further down look him over. “Should be under ‘cunningham’.”

The barkeep moves to grab the ledger then stops, looking Jesse over with a furrowed brow. “That tab has already been paid, sir. A woman took care of it this morning.”

“Did she? You wouldn’t happen to know where she went, would you?”

“Can’t say I do. The fight broke out right after she paid and I was too busy trying to salvage the furniture to say who came and went.”

“Well, thank you for your time.” Jesse steps away from the bar and heads for the door, stopping when one of the men clustered at the table calls out.

“You looking for that woman who was here earlier?” The man who spoke nudges another, urging him to speak up. “You spoke to her, Charles. Tell him.”

“Is she in some sort of trouble?” He questions, dark eyed gaze on Jesse’s own, seeming more than a little reluctant to answer.

“Not that I’m aware of. Just left town without me again.” At the flicker of disappointment across his face, Jesse smothers a grin. Leave it to Dawn to barely say two words to a man and have him smitten. “My dear sister likes to leave in a timely manner; suffice to say I don’t share the sentiment. I’d appreciate it if you could tell me which direction she went, as I believe she had our supplies.”

“She rode off past the sheriff’s office— likely taking the long way out of town.”

“Much obliged.” Jesse replies, dropping a handful of money on the table. “Buy yourselves a round with my thanks.”

“Maybe she’ll come back to town and you can—“

“Javier.”

Jesse laughs as he exits the saloon, thinking he’ll have to tell Dawn about her admirer. After making sure he’s got everything properly settled on Millie, he mounts the horse and takes off in the direction the stranger— Charles— had mentioned. Upon reaching the outskirts of town, he brings Millie to a halt and scans the closest signpost to get his whereabouts. He and Dawn had come from out near West Elizabeth, so it only made sense to head in the opposite direction. His choice made, Jesse sets out from Valentine.

* * *

It takes him less time to find Dawn than he expected, though she did manage to put a good distance between where she set up camp and the town they’d just left. He’d nearly made it half-way to Emerald Vale before he caught sight of a well-hidden path through the trees— exactly the kind of shelter his sister preferred. He slows Mille to an easy trot, carefully steering her onto the path and deeper into the trees. 

It’s a fair distance in before he hears her voice, Dawn talking lowly to Gunther and no doubt complaining about Jesse himself. He slips from the saddle, landing with a quiet thump in the grass and sneaks into the clearing where she’d chosen to set up camp. The area is a little too small for Jesse’s liking, but it would suffice for the time being. When he realizes she still had yet to acknowledge him ,and better yet that she’s still grumbling about him, he decides he has the perfect way to let her know he’s found her.

Jesse crouches down and sneaks up behind her, grinning smugly as Gunther remains unmoving and Dawn remains none the wiser. Once he’s behind her, he stands carefully and hooks his fingers into the lacings on her vest, tugging her backwards with a sharp yank, and making a quick retreat as Dawn curses and crashes into the side of the tent with all the grace of a bull.

Dawn scowls as she stands back up, snatching the horse brush she’d dropped and glowers at Gunther who flicks his tail but remains unbothered. “You could’ve warned me.” The horse swivels an ear in her direction and chuffs, stopping it’s feet as if to tell her to resume brushing. 

“You left me again.” Jesse sounds petulant, but Dawn knows even without looking that’s he exaggerating… and that she won’t be able to ignore him for long. “And, it would seem I missed all the fun judging by the sorry state of the saloon window.”

“That,” Dawn interrupts, turning to wave the horse brush at her brother with a stern glare, “was not my doing.” When Jesse only raises an eyebrow with a broad smile, she mimes hurling the brush at his head. “Some jerk grabbed me and smacked into another guy when I elbowed him and told him to shove off— Don’t make that face at me. I elbowed him in the gut just like you taught me to do. Besides, one of the other guys in the bar knocked him out after he threw a chair. It’s fine. Not like I was planning on going back to Valentine anyways.”

Jesse’s still scowling when she returns to the task of brushing out Gunther’s coat, the sound of him muttering threats under his breath echoing across the clearing as she whistles twice for Millie. The mare trots on over, coming to a stop beside Jesse who gives her a gentle pat.

“Did you scout the area?”

“Not in-depth, but enough to know this spot was well-hidden.”

“We should check. Make sure there aren’t any surprises waiting for us.” He straightens from the tree he’d been leaning against, checking Millie’s saddle and his pack before climbing onto the horse. “Come on then, the quicker we get it done the sooner we can come back to camp.”

“Jesse Cunningham, advocating for actual work? When did you become the responsible one?”

“Funny.”

“No really,” Dawn answers, throwing the brush into her bag and climbing into Gunther’s saddle. “Did I finally knock some sense into you?”

Jesse shakes his head and urges Millie on, riding through the trees and leaving Dawn to follow after. The two of them ride for some time, the afternoon sun bearing down on them when they come to a halt on a dirt road a good way down from the camp. There’s not much around: more trees as far as the eye can see, the winding dirt road they’ve stopped on, and a fenced in homestead off in the distance.

“Doesn’t seem to be much around to worry about. Think we should keep looking?”

Jesse makes a non-committal sound and Dawn turns her head, finding him staring at the homestead and a figure in the distance, now appearing to lean against the fence post. They’re too far away for Dawn to tell much about them, really only that they’re wearing a hat that obscures most of their face and that they appear to be scrutinizing them just as much as Jesse. 

“You look any longer and you’ll burn a hole right through them.”

Jesse smirks slightly and Dawn barely resists the urge to roll her eyes. Her brother had certainly had his fair share of lovers— though never for more than a night or two— and while she’s unbothered by the fact that it mattered little to him if they were men or women; only that they were interested… she’s not entirely certain the stranger would share her brother’s interest. She tries to tell him as much, but upon finding it to have little effect— and with him still staring— gives him a sharp shove. An action that nearly knocks him off his horse and finally gets his full attention.

“We should split up,” Dawn says, watching a Jesse rights himself in the saddle and shoves her back— but barely— in retaliation for nearly being knocked off his horse. “Can cover more ground that way.”

“I think we should stay together. What if you get caught by someone?”

“Do you really think we should stay together or are you just buying yourself more time to stare at the homesteader? You look any longer and they might shoot.”

“They could be good people.”

“The glare I can feel from here suggests otherwise.” Dawn kicks his foot, hissing for him to do something before she offers a tentative wave to the stranger near the fence and rides off without her brother, veering off into a path through the underbrush and further still until she’s out of sight.

Jesse offers a wave and a bright smile, touching the tip of his hat in a farewell before he follows suit— crashing through the underbrush with less grace than his sister and finding the area devoid of any signs as to where she could’ve gone.

“Really, Dee?” He sighs into the empty air and scans the trees for any glimmer of where she could’ve gone. “Guess we’re splitting up again after all.” He waits another moment or two, then turns Millie left and rides off… missing the cluster of men hidden in the trees who linger before heading right— the direction Dawn had ridden off in.

* * *

It’s well into the afternoon when Dawn sights an abandoned camp, the occupants long gone judging by the tattered fabric of the tent. Aside the apparent homesteader Jesse’d spent too long staring at, she hadn’t seen anyone. It was as good an indicator as any that the area should be safe, at least for as long as they’d be staying before they grew confident enough that no one would be hunting for them again. She brings Gunther to a stop, then slides off the saddle with a tight hold on the reins as the horse stomps his hooves. 

“It’s alright, boy. Just gonna take a look and see if there’s anything worth saving.” Gunther tosses his head when she lets go of the reins and trotts off, just past the closest tree line but still close enough that she should be able to get to him if she were to run into trouble. “You’re just as bad as Jesse!” She grumbles with a shake of her head, stepping into the tent and beginning her search for anything valuable. There isn’t much, truth be told, but she finds a crate beneath the bedroll that emits a satisfying rattle when she kicks it with her boot. It’s likely it won’t be much, but at least it would be something.

She’s just crouched down to open it when the light streaming into the tent intensifies, then dims— blotted out briefly by a large shadow.

“Well, look what we have here.” A voice drawls from somewhere behind her and Dawn freezes with one hand on the holster of her gun, going still as the tent flap drops shut again. “Aren’t you a mighty fine prize.”

As the stranger lets out a low whistle, Dawn thinks to herself that perhaps she should’ve listened to Jesse when he suggested they stay together… but she’s gotten herself out of worse situations than this and she would do it again, with or without her brother’s help. She turns slowly, her hands held aloft, and offers a smug smile.

“Mighty fine prize, am I?” The grin she offers doesn’t quite meet her eyes, and the stranger’s eyes go wide as their thumb slips off the hammer. “Oh, you don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?”

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to learn more about my disaster twins, you can find me on tumblr @raisinghellinotherworlds.  
> Kudos and/or comments are appreciated but never expected; thanks for reading!


End file.
